Empire of Angels
by ShakespeareNerd13
Summary: She prayed for help, and Castiel would answer. But he never could have imagined how one prayer would change him. (CastielxOC)
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1: Eternity Ends**

White. A color that symbolized hope and purity, but for Katherine, it was the very essence of despair. White walls, white floors, white lights, white clothes, it all sickened her. It was blinding and invasive to her eyes. Day in and day out, all she saw was _white_. She'd been immersed in it for so long with no hope of escape. The color white seemed to run through her very blood.

There was a time when Katherine's life had been more than a color. She'd been surrounded by sound and feeling and taste and movement. Her father's laughter, her mother's warm embrace, the jolt of her beat up car as it carried her to campus, the smell of old books in the bookshop she worked at. While she might have laughed to imagine it now, Katherine used to be normal. She'd been a simple college student, two years away from graduating with a degree in literature. Slightly awkward and lonely, but happy overall. She'd had a life before her.

That was when a pair of pitch black eyes entered her bookshop and blown the world to dust. To this day, Katherine couldn't find it in herself to understand what had happened. He'd been charming. Tall, lean, a head of dark hair and a smile that could kill, and to Katherine's pleasant surprise, he'd seemed interested in her. As she'd weaved around bookshelves, sorting a new collection into their proper places, the man had followed her about and talked to her. He introduced himself as Arthur, flashing a row of white teeth at her warmly. It had all been very exciting to Katherine – nobody payed attention to her like this. She should have realized that there was something wrong.

One moment, Katherine was locking up the shop for the night and accepting his offer to walk her home. The next, a large black van had pulled up next to them and Arthur's arms were wrapped around her, shoving her inside. She'd tried to scream, tried to kick out and fight back, but there were so many hands holding her down and a smelly cloth was being forced over her face. Within moments, Katherine was unconscious. She would wake up to something from a horror film.

That's when the color white latched itself onto her existence permanently. From the moment Katherine had opened her eyes to the blinding fluorescent lights and the cold metal table she was strapped to, life was now Hell.

It was the same routine for what must have been years. Katherine couldn't tell how long she'd been captive – when one's existence was contained in a small white room with no windows and a constant flow of artificial light, time lost its meaning. All Katherine knew was that she was left sitting around for hours and then the black eyed doctors would come.

"Hello there, Katie-Angel!" The doctor greeted in his usual, chipper tone. It grated on Katherine's nerves. "You know the drill." He motioned to the metal table being wheeled in behind him. Chains with strange marking hung from it, their clanking beckoning coldly for Katherine's submission.

Katherine remained sitting on the floor in the corner of her room, glaring up silently. Recently, the way her life was had become unbearable. It'd always been hellish and Katherine had always longed for a way out, but now she could feel something inside her ready to snap. With every hour, every time the routine began, her heart tightened and her body itched to _do something_.

At the sight of her planted firmly on the ground, the doctor sighed impatiently. "Having another stubborn day, are we? It'll pass, little angel. Up now."

Katherine didn't budge. Wetting her dry lips, voice crackly from lack of use, she quietly responded, "No."

The doctor's black eyes flashed dangerously. There had been a time when Katherine was so broken and hopeless that she'd given up fighting and done what was asked of her. She'd been easy to deal with, a limp rag doll that could be manipulated however desired. But that shell of a girl had started to change. She was hardening and something within her had begun to spark. He'd sensed it – they all had. They needed to do something quickly before Katherine became… difficult.

"I'll count to three, and you better be up on this table or so help me I'll make you regret it," he threatened lowly. Katherine watched as he raised three fingers to count down. "One…"

"I'm not doing it," she hissed.

"Two…"

The doctor gave her a look that should have made her shiver, but her heart was stone. "I mean it, I'm done."

"Three."

They were locked in a staring contest of sorts. The doctor's heartless black eyes waiting as Katherine's blue-green ones bore into his in defiance. Katherine jutted her chin up proudly, enjoying the rush this newfound boldness was giving her. "I'm not getting on that table," she told him firmly. _Not without a fight_.

With a long, exaggerated sigh, the doctor straightened his jacket in resignation. Slowly, he walked back to the shut door he had come in from and knocked three times. Then he turned to her, head tilted. "You don't have a choice, my angel."

Two more black eyed doctors burst into the small room and advanced on Katherine without hesitation. Katherine curled in on herself, muscles tensing as she tried to plant herself in the corner. The doctors grabbed her arms roughly and lifted her with ease. Kicking and snarling, Katherine tried to resist, but her efforts were fruitless. There wasn't much to be done when the girl who weighed little to nothing and had no muscle was up against three strong, healthy men.

"I'm not doing it!" Katherine spat furiously, trying to claw at her captors and thrashing out her limbs with the little strength she had. They were unaffected by her struggle, slamming her down onto the metal table with a thud. Katherine gasped in pain as her head and back hit the metal hard. Taking advantage of the distraction, the doctors worked quickly to hold her arms and legs down, clamping the chains on her wrists and ankles. As she felt the cold metal trap her, Katherine felt the dread begin to boil in her chest. "No, no, no, I'm done with it! You can't make me!" she shouted, pulling against the chains holding her down with all she was worth.

"Fussy today, isn't she?" one of the doctors commented offhandedly.

"She's getting restless."

"We'll take care of that soon."

Katherine rattled the chains frantically as she struggled to get free, but in her heart she knew that she wouldn't be able to get out. Above her, a gloved hand was brandishing a large syringe. The tip of the needle glinted menacingly. Inside the syringe was a familiar substance that could only be described as liquid light. Seemingly as bright as the sun, it hurt to look at for too long. Katherine had grown familiar with the strange injection, along with the misery that it brought.

Still struggling against her bonds, Katherine stared at the glowing syringe in despair. "No…" she moaned. "I don't want it, please don't." Her voice broke with her heartfelt plea.

Two hands clamped around her right arm to keep it still. The needle came closer to the exposed skin of forearm. Katherine struggled violently. "No, no, don't!"

The doctors were deaf to her cries, the needle plunging into her skin without hesitation. Katherine squeezed her eyes shut and grit her teeth as the first drop of torture was injected into her veins.

She'd been through this hundreds of times, yet the pain never became more bearable. Katherine had no idea what was in that syringe. All she knew was that it always brought excruciating pain. As the agony coursed through her arm and out to her entire body, she couldn't hold back the shriek that came clawing out of her throat. It felt like her body was on fire, like white hot flames were licking at her bones and swirling about in her lungs. Her head felt like it might explode. Her sight was all but gone as her eyes were clouded with the torment.

It went on for what felt like hours, though it could have only been minutes. Katherine twisted and cringed, screaming for the doctors to stop, begging for the hateful needle to be taken out of her arm. It was this feeling of absolute helplessness that brought her the most misery. No matter what she did or said, the doctors continued with their work as if operating on a corpse. Nothing could stop the agony.

At long last, Katherine could hear her screams growing faint and her consciousness going distant. She willingly sunk into the welcoming pool of black, allowing it to wrap itself around her mind and take her to a state of sleep.

….

When Katherine woke, she was on her stiff cot, still in the little white room that was always present. Her bones ached, black spots flashed across her vision, and her head throbbed something fierce. Uncontrollable shaking coursed up and down her spine, her body constantly switching from hot to cold. Perspiration coated her skin. Forcing herself to swallow in spite of her throat being raw from screaming, Katherine took a deep breath and blinked up at the ever constant fluorescent lights above her.

 _Again_ , she thought to herself belatedly. _They gave me a shot_ again _. I can't do this anymore._

She was done with it – all of it. The white walls, the irritating bright lights, the black eyed doctors, the pain that always came back just when she'd recovered from the last dose. Katherine was so sick of everything, her desire to see it end so strong that she could have thrown up just thinking about it. This couldn't be the rest of her life. She had family and friends that missed her, she had school, she had a normal world to spend her days in. How dare they take that away?

Burning anger flashed over Katherine's face. She was _not_ going to spend her years being treated like an experiment, receiving painful injections over and over, letting black eyed men in doctor's coats rule her life. Something needed to change. It _had_ to change.

Cringing at the aching of her body, Katherine forced herself to sit up and swing her bare feet onto the cold tile floor. Stretching and wincing at the popping of her joints, she let out a long breath to ground herself. The after-effects of the injections were never fun to experience – though they were a little less severe this time. Usually, Katherine underwent several seizures, often unable to do so much as lift a finger because the pain was so great. While she still felt weak and everything hurt, she was grateful that it wasn't worse. In spite of the ill effects, Katherine was feeling surprisingly rejuvenated. Something was itching inside of her, telling her that she was capable of doing something. It was a feeling that she hadn't had in a long time.

It didn't take long for the door to swing open and a black eyed doctor to come in. A clipboard tucked under one arm, a bowl of oatmeal-like goop in his hand. "Rise and shine, Katie-Angel." His voice was far too loud and happy for Katherine's liking, it's nasally tone increasing the aching of her head. "Heard you were difficult again. That true?"

Katherine shakily wiped the sweat from her brow and gave him a glare. She opened her mouth to make a snippy comment when her eyes caught sight of the door behind him – left open and unguarded.

It had been a long time since Katherine had tried to escape. Her first while of captivity had been nothing but attempts to win freedom – all of which had ended in additional torture and regret. At this point, the doctors had assumed that they'd beat it out of her. For a while, Katherine had believed that too. But as she stared at the open door only yards away, something stirred in Katherine's chest and she decided _why not?_

"Katie? Hello? Having sweet dreams, are we?"

Katherine turned her attention back to the doctor in front of her, meeting his black eyes with a newfound determination. Seeing her acknowledgment, the doctor stepped closer and held the bowl out to her. After looking at it for a moment, Katherine silently accepted the poor excuse for food.

Satisfied with her compliance, the doctor looked down at his clipboard. "Alright, the usual questions. How is your sight on a scale of one to ten?"

"Ten," Katherine answered quietly, blinking back the black spots in the corners of her vision. The doctor wrote it down. For the next couple of minutes, he asked similar questions. Katherine responded drily, her mind somewhere else completely.

"On a scale of one to ten…" the doctor began, pausing when he noticed that she hadn't touched her food. "Why aren't you eating?"

Katherine slowly raised her eyes to his, steeling herself for what she was about to do. Part of her wanted to hesitate, but the burning in her chest encouraged her to keep going. Swallowing, she tilted her head slightly. "It's a little hot."

Before the black eyed doctor knew what was happening, Katherine had thrust the contents of the bowl in his face and knocked him into the wall. As he shouted out in surprise and scrambled to get the burning stuff out of his eyes, she shoved passed him and was out the door in seconds.

Adrenaline rushing through her, Katherine raced down the long white hallway. Behind her, the doctor in her room was shouting in alarm and tripping to the alarm button just outside the doorway. A siren plunged through the air loudly, echoing about the white building. In Katherine's mind it felt distant. She skidded around a corner blindly, bare feet slapping the tile below. In all her times of attempted escape, she'd only made it around a few corners before she was stopped. As she rounded a second corner, Katherine prayed that it would be different this time.

A third corner, and the sounds of heavy feet pounding after her could be heard. Shouts of "Stop!" and "Get her!" filled her ears. Katherine pushed herself onward, heart in her throat.

 _I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna make it, I have to make it…_

There was no telling where the way out of this labyrinth of a white halls was. As Katherine came to a split in the halls and mindlessly sped down the one on the left, she grit her teeth anxiously. She had no idea where she was going and the footsteps behind her were coming closer. _Come on, Kate, keep going._ She wasn't sure what she was even looking for; A big door with a red EXIT sign would be much appreciated at this point. The more corners she turned, the more desperate she became. There was only so much running she could do – being trapped in a small room for who knows how long made the exercise rather shocking to her body. She needed to find a way out soon.

As yet another long hallway greeted Katherine, she let out a cry of frustration. The black-eyed doctors were only inches away. Then, to Katherine's horror, a second handful of doctors came barreling down the hall in front of her. She was cornered.

As Katherine stumbled in her shock, the doctors behind her were finally able to catch up. A large hand clamped down on her arm, a fist tangled itself in her hair, and Katherine was quickly locked in a mess of grasping hands. "No!" she shouted, flailing wildly. "Let me go! Let me go!"

"Chill out, little angel," one of the doctors snapped gruffly. "Let's get you back in your room."

"I'm not going in there!" Katherine protested furiously. "I'm not doing this anymore! Let me out!"

"Put her out, someone!" a doctor called.

Katherine continued to shriek and claw at her captors as they managed to pin her down on the ground. A syringe made itself known in the corner of her eye – no doubt a sedative. Her heart felt ready to explode as she realized what was about to happen. _No, no, no!_ Katherine could feel herself slipping as the needle came closer to her arm. The thought of being forced in unconsciousness, only to wake up trapped once again, was unbearable. She couldn't go through it anymore.

As her desperation and fury reached a point of almost hysteria, something hot bloomed inside Katherine's chest. The fire quickly spread through her whole body, entwining itself around her nerves and bones. With a scream, Katherine felt her eyes go aflame.

"Whoa!" The doctors faltered in shock at the sight of the girl's eyes glowing brightly, as if they held the sun under her eyelashes.

In a blur of white hot light, Katherine could sense nothing but the sound of the doctors about her screaming in pain. Pain exploded in her chest and she opened her mouth to cry out, but nothing came. It was as if the air had been knocked from her lungs. Nothing was making sense. The ground disappeared below her, she was blindly in limbo. It was happening so fast that Katherine couldn't begin to figure out what was happening to her.

Then the light was gone and she felt herself land on something… wet? Laying on her back, Katherine sucked in sweet oxygen and squeezed her eyes shut, afraid to move. The screams of the doctors were gone. The pain was gone. All was silent and still.

Collecting herself and letting out an involuntary moan, Katherine forced her eyes open and blinked up at the dark sky above her.

 _Stars_?

A black canvas of jewel-like twinkling was spread about before her. For a moment, she wondered if she was outside, but that couldn't be. Katherine thought she must be dreaming. That is, until a drop of water landed on the tip of her nose. With a frown, she realized that drops of water were covering her entire body.

 _Rain?_

Katherine started to sit up when she realized she couldn't. With growing panic, she found that her body refused to move at all – not even a finger. Every muscle was weighed down with exhaustion. As blackness began to cloud her vision once more, Katherine knew that she wouldn't be conscious for much longer. She fought to keep her eyes open hopelessly. She had to stay awake – she couldn't be left unconscious in the middle of nowhere. What if something dangerous found her? What if the black eyed doctors found her?

Her mind was sinking into darkness in spite of her fear, and Katherine's eyes drooped shut.

 _I need help._

With that last, sickening thought, Katherine's awareness was no more.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO: Mystery**

 _I need help_.

Castiel's handsome face held an intrigued expression. Those three words, echoing through his mind as clear as a bell. And for once, it wasn't Sam or Dean calling to him. When was the last time the angel had heard a prayer as elementary as this? In the three small words that had resonated through his head, he could already sense the pure, almost childlike innocence of the source.

Looking around and thinking things over briefly, Castiel decided that there wasn't a reason to ignore the simple plea for help. He was currently in his favorite place – the heaven of an autistic man who'd drowned in a bathtub – standing numbly. Bored. Heaven was in order, the angels looking to Castiel as some sort of hero after the whole fiasco with the apocalypse. Sam had been saved from Hell, him and Dean now road-tripping across the country and hunting like they used to. No conflicts could be found anywhere, and while Castiel was grateful for that, he couldn't deny that he was unsure how to handle the peace.

Excited by the sudden curiosity this prayer had brought, Castiel stretched his wings and left Heaven in a flash. He landed on Earth, eyes scanning the area around him swiftly. The first thing he observed was that it was nighttime. A few trees were sparsely scattered about. The edge of a forest. A gentle breeze caused the angel's trench coat to flap behind him gracefully. Rain was pouring, though as the angel looked up he could see a space in the heavy clouds where several stars twinkled. Feeling water already soaking his hair and the shoulders of his coat, Castiel looked back down and frowned. Whoever had said the prayer seemed to be missing.

Just as he was wondering if he'd come to the wrong place, he noticed something white in the corner of his eye. Turning, the angel tilted his head to the side in wonder.

A young woman was sprawled out on her back in the mud. Her sickeningly pale skin practically glowed in the darkness, blending in with the thin white gown that wetly stuck to her body. As Castiel drew nearer, he could see that the gown seemed to come from a hospital of sorts. His brow furrowed. There couldn't possibly be a hospital around here, they were in the middle of nowhere.

She was so still, for a moment he wondered if she was dead. Kneeling on the ground next to her, the angel brushed a long strand of hair from her face and placed his palm over her forehead. He closed his eyes and gently prodded her mind, immediately sensing with relief that she was alive.

As he delved further, he could feel flashes of fear and dread. The sounds of screams echoed faintly, brief moments of blinding light filling her memories. Castiel's heart began to grow heavy. Whatever this girl had gone through, it had certainly been nothing good. The longer he sifted through her mind, the more concerned the angel became. It was still unclear what she'd gone through, but it'd definitely been severe. There was so much pain – both mentally and physically. Her fear was almost tangible, a loathsome feeling of helplessness coating her every thought.

Castiel caught sight of something and felt a jolt. _Black eyes_. Demons.

He reached for the image in an effort to understand clearer, but before he could he felt a pinch in his own mind. Something was warning him not to continue. The small resistance only piqued Castiel's curiosity and he tried to grasp the memory again. The moment he did so, his mind was assaulted with pain. As he winced in surprise, the memory vanished before him and he quickly felt himself being shoved out of the girl's subconscious. In a flash, the pain disappeared and Castiel found that he'd been completely locked out of her head.

Slowly pulling his hand from her clammy forehead, Castiel blinked down at the unconscious girl in shock. No normal human should be able to do that. Her pale face laid still before him, so innocent and helpless that it was almost mocking. _What are you?_ Castiel wondered.

A particularly strong gust of wind hit him and he suddenly remembered why he was here. The girl had called for help – and help her he would.

She was icy cold, and soaking wet. Instinctively, Castiel moved to touch two fingers to her temple, but he remembered how her subconscious had reacted last time. Perhaps it would be best to avoid using angelic means for now, he decided. Pulling his hand back, he pulled his cell phone out of his front coat pocket and called the number on his speed dial.

Two rings, and then, "Whatup, Cas?"

"Dean, where are you?" Castiel cut to the chase.

"Uh… why?" The elder Winchester brother questioned suspiciously.

Castiel rolled his eyes at his friend's ever constant mistrust. "I have an unconscious girl and I don't know what to do with her. Tell me where you are."

Dean could be heard snickering to himself. "Whoa there, Cas, you drinking with the ladies? It's normal for a girl to pass out drunk, you know."

"Dean." The angel grit his teeth in frustration. This girl needed help as soon as possible.

"Okay, okay, chill," Dean relented. "Portland, Oregon, OceanStar Motel, room 113."

With a sigh, Castiel hung up and stuck the phone back in his pocket. As gingerly as possible, he slid one arm under the girl's shoulders and the other under her knees. She was frighteningly light, he observed as he lifted her out of the mud and stood. With the sound of flapping wings, the angel vanished with her cradled against his chest.

They appeared a moment later in a rundown motel room. It was the usual setup, two twin beds against the wall, a small kitchen area, and a bathroom in the corner. Castiel glanced around the small room. "Dean?"

"This better be good, Cas, there's a really nifty bar down the street –" Dean came out of the bathroom, running a hand through his freshly spiked up hair. He came to a stop at the sight of his soaking wet friend, an equally soaking wet and mud-covered girl in his arms. "Explain?"

"Not sure I can," the angel told him honestly, approaching a twin bed and gently setting her down on it. Now that he could see her in the light, she looked much worse. The dark mud stains contrasted with her pasty white skin. Her face was sunken and heavily shadowed, lips so pale they were almost invisible. The wet hospital gown clung to her small frame. She looked so fragile.

"What happened to her?" Dean questioned, coming closer and reaching out to feel her pulse.

"I don't know."

"Is she okay?"

"I don't know."

Dean looked up from the girl to Castiel, irritation clear on his face. "Well, what do you know?"

The angel shrugged helplessly. "I heard a prayer for help and I found her like this."

"Okay. Great." Dean was watching him, nodding slowly. "You couldn't just heal her with your angel mojo?"

"Her subconscious resisted me when I tried," Castiel responded. "Something about her is… different… not human."

"Which is why you skipped the hospital and brought her to here," Dean finished, finally understanding the situation a little bit better.

"She's very cold," Castiel said quietly, his blue eyes silently asking Dean for help. Unable to help with his angelic powers, he wasn't sure what to do.

Dean took in the sight and gave his friend an encouraging nod. After everything Castiel had done for him and his brother, there was no question that he'd help when the angel needed it. That, and he was rather curious about the girl himself.

"Right," Dean muttered to himself. "Let's get this thing off…" He moved to unbutton her hospital gown, when pushed his hand back.

"What are you doing?" The angel frowned. "I don't think that's the most appropriate –"

"Relax, featherbutt, best way to get her warm is to get rid of wet clothes. We'll put something dry on her, obviously." Dean rolled his eyes. "Sheesh…"

Dean removed the hospital gown, making sure not to look, and quickly covered her in a pair of his sweats and a T-shirt, along with socks for her feet. Castiel had taken the blankets from the other bed and draped them over her as soon as she was clothed. As Dean went to fill up some water bottles with hot water, he looked over his shoulder to see Castiel gently tucking the layers of blankets closer around the girl's form. _What a softy_.

As Dean turned the tap on and waited for the water to get hot, the front door opened and Sam came in. Just as Dean had earlier, Sam came to halt at the sight of the sopping wet, unconscious girl. "Uh, hey, Cas," he frowned. "What…"

Castiel quickly explained everything to Sam while Dean finished up with the hot water bottles. The elder brother brought three bottles over to the bed and placed them around the girl's feet and torso.

"So, we're just gonna wait for her to wake up?"

"Um… yes?" Dean shrugged.

Sam looked between him, Castiel, and the unconscious girl on the bed. "But shouldn't we…"

"We don't know what happened or _what_ this girl is, Sammy, there's not much we can do," Dean told his little brother.

Sam's knee-jerk reaction was to protest, but as he opened his mouth, he realized he didn't have any better suggestions. With Dean and Castiel looking at him expectantly, the younger Winchester sighed. "Okay. Yeah. Let's just see if she wakes up."

With a nod, Dean turned on his heel and pulled three beers out of the mini freezer. Tossing one to Sam and Castiel, he popped the top of his own off. "Great. Drink up. We might be waiting for a while."

Dean was right. It was a long night, needless to say. Sam buried himself in research on his laptop, searching for reasons as to why the girl was in the state she was in. Dean sat on the empty twin bed and watched TV for a while, drinking his beer happily and laughing every once and a while at something on the screen. Castiel sat on end of the bed next to the girl's feet, watching the television screen but not taking any of it in. He was growing impatient with every hour – waiting was not the angel's forte.

He couldn't keep himself from glancing at her every few minutes, wishing she would move. The faint rise and fall of her chest was the only sign that she was even alive. Castiel was half tempted to try and read her mind again, but the repercussions from his last attempt kept him at bay. It was infuriating – like having a pile of puzzle pieces before him, waiting to be put together, only he wasn't allowed to touch them.

Whoever… or _what_ ever this girl was, she'd been the most interesting thing to show up in a while, and Castiel was determined to solve her mystery.

….

 _In a blur of white hot light, Katherine could sense nothing but the sound of the doctors about her screaming in pain. Pain exploded in her chest and she opened her mouth to cry out, but nothing came. It was as if the air had been knocked from her lungs. Nothing was making sense. The ground disappeared below her, she was blindly in limbo. It was happening so fast that Katherine couldn't begin to figure out what was happening to her._

Katherine's stomach tightened as it would if she were falling. With a loud gasp, she jolted awake, her eyes shooting open in alarm as she sat up quickly. Her head spun with the action, black spots that seemed to always be there blinking in her vision. She was shivering, cold sweat coating her skin.

A hand landed on her shoulder. "Hey –"

With a yelp, Katherine batted the hand away from her clawed at the presence next to her blindly.

"Whoa, whoa, easy!" More hands were on her to restrain her, and this only made Katherine struggle more.

"Let me go! Let me go now!" she shouted viciously, flailing and kicking and scratching with everything she had.

"Okay, okay! Calm down!" a male voice answered. "Dean, back off." Within moments, the hands were all gone and the unknown men were several feet away, hands up in a show of harmlessness. "We're not gonna hurt you, see? You're safe now."

 _Safe_. The word landed in Katherine's chest mercifully. For the first time, she blinked and took in her surroundings. The walls weren't white. Katherine stared at the old blue wallpaper in awe. Her jaw dropped at the sight of a real window, with warm sunlight streaming through a slit in the curtains. Then she noticed that she was in a bed. An actual bed, covered in fluffy blankets, the mattress below her soft and warm. There were socks on her feet – they felt foreign. Katherine glanced down at herself to see she was drowning in a dark green T-shirt and black sweats. With wide eyes, she glanced back up at the two men watching her.

The one who had been speaking when she woke up was tall with a mop of brown hair on his head. The other was shorter with lighter hair, spiked up. Both were well built and strong looking. Katherine immediately eyed them with distrust. "What happened?" she croaked.

"We were hoping you could tell us," the shorter man said calmly, lowering his raised hands. The taller followed suit, a kind look in his eyes.

Katherine glanced between the two of them with parted lips. All she remembered was trying to escape… and the burning white light that surrounded her, the doctors' screams, seeing stars… "There was rain." The two men waited patiently as Katherine continued to think out loud. "It was raining, which means I was outside, but I don't know how… They were putting me to sleep, and then they were screaming, and there was light… We were indoors with the white halls, there couldn't have been rain… or stars…"

"Who was putting you to sleep?" A deep voice sounded behind her. Katherine immediately jumped and whirled around to find a third man standing in the corner next to the bed. With a defensive snarl, she stumbled out of the bed and took a few steps backwards, tripping the whole way as she struggled to balance herself.

"It's okay, okay, he's a friend, he won't hurt you," the taller man assured her.

Katherine landed on the other twin bed next to the one she'd been on and watched all three men warily. "Who are you?"

"I'm Sam, this is my brother Dean," the two men introduced themselves.

Dean nodded to the third man, "And that creep over there is Castiel."

"Last night, you prayed for help," Castiel said, stepping forward to sit on the twin bed opposite of her. "Help came."

Katherine was entranced by the sky blue eyes that seemed to stare into her very soul. Something about them felt… otherworldly. Beyond their deep blue hues, there was a beautiful light shining from them. Something pure and stunning resided in this man before her, and Katherine couldn't shake the feeling that she'd seen it before.

"What's your name?" Dean's voice cut into her thoughts and Katherine tore her eyes away from Castiel's.

The question threw her off. She wasn't used to people having interest in her name. For so long, she'd been called nothing but 'Katie-Angel' even though she'd made it clear she hated it. Swallowing, the syllables felt strange on her tongue as she answered. "Katherine. Katherine Celeste Welles."

"How do you feel?"

Another strange question to hear. Normally it was 'on a scale of one to ten…' followed by something being jotted down on a clipboard and ignored. Running a shaky hand over her face, Katherine took a moment to figure out how she felt. Mentally, numb, a bit confused. Physically, a little achy and light headed, but not bad. "I'm okay, I think."

"How are you associated with demons?" Castiel asked seriously.

Dean snorted, "Well, don't beat around the bush, Cas."

Katherine frowned. "Demons? What do you mean?"

"You saw men with black eyes, correct?" Castiel pressed, referring to the small glimpse of her memories that he'd seen.

Katherine bit the inside of her cheek and nodded timidly. "Doctors. That's what they dressed like – they never told me who they were."

"I think you mean _what_ ," Dean corrected. When Katherine looked up at him questioningly, he gave her a sad smile. "Sorry, Katherine, your world's about to get a little bit bigger."


End file.
